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“Am I getting coffee or alcohol?” Mary stands waiting for me to answer. I smile but before I even have a chance to answer everyone else answers alcohol. I laugh and lean into Kill as Liv and Alex get up to give her a hand with the drinks.
Dan and Roger took Maddie, RJ and Shannon out in the garden. I didn’t want them around when I talk about what I’d been through. I feel like I’m ok but I’m not sure how I’m going to feel when I start talking. Lennon is on Finn’s lap. He’s too young to really understand what’s going on and we didn’t think it was fair to stick Dan with all of the children.
“Thank you for giving me space to get my head on straight before sharing anything. And thank you to you guys for holding off heading to the warehouse.” Killian squeezes my hand as I take a sip of my wine. Nobody says anything, they all sit quietly letting me take this at my own pace. I know there’s no doubt some of them will have questions, but I also know that they won’t push until I’m done.
* * *
I was held captive for two weeks, and it’s taken me five hours to tell them everything. I thought Killian was going to explode when he found out that my dad had tried to get me to keep working but sign over my money and my business. Until I reminded him that he’s dead and he can’t hurt me anymore.
I thought about not telling them about the interactions I had with Liam or the fact that my father told him he could do what he wanted with me when he realised, I wasn’t going to sign anything over to him. But keeping it from them wasn’t an option, so I did my best to keep it light. I can’t tell who was angrier, the brothers or Mary. I told them about the plans Liam and Michael had for the woman and children. The atmosphere in the room was palpable at the point, I could see the brothers struggle to control their demons. But the mood was broken when we heard the children laughing out in the garden, then Maddie yelling at poor Roger. They couldn’t have timed it any better if they’d tried.
“Thank you. Knowing that I have your love and support is what is going to get me through this. I can’t do it without any of you.”
“You just tell us what you need when you need it.” Alex walks over to me and pulls me up from the sofa pulling me into an embrace. I sink into her as I feel the arms of the others wrap around me.
For the first time since I was taken and rescued, I break down and cry. I cry for the loss of my dad. I cry for everything that I went through, the fear that they tried to instil in me. and I cry for the loss of Maxim and the guilt that I feel over his death.
Chapter 41
After she told us everything, and then I watched her finally break, I carried her up here to get some rest. I lay against the headboard and held her in my arms until she fell asleep. Because that’s how she sleeps now, curled into me. She sleeps while I lie awake and watch her. I finally have her back where she belongs, but I can’t stop watching her. I’m afraid that if I close my eyes for too long, she’ll disappear again.
A light knock at the door forces me to tear my eyes away from her. Looking up I see Ronan stick his head around the door. “We’re headed to the warehouse. We leave in ten minutes.”
“I’ll be ready. You think you could get the girls to come to sit with her?”
He smiles at me and pushes the door open, revealing my brother’s women standing outside next to him. I hold back a small laugh and kiss my woman on the head and whisper I love her even though she can’t hear me. Then gently slide out from under her, letting Alex climb into my spot.
“We’ve got your girl. You boys go end this fucking war.” She gives me a wink then settles back, as the others climb onto the bed around them, taking care not to disturb Bella. I give my woman one last glance before closing the door and following Ronan down the hall.
The drive over to the warehouse is quiet. None of us speak, we know we’re heading into a room where our own flesh and blood is waiting. We know what he’s done, the pain that he’s caused. What he set out to do to us, and the Syndicate. But he’s still family. I don’t know how we live with that. I don’t think any of us do.
As we enter the warehouse, we all stand outside the kill room. This is normally the part where we strip down and prepare for whatever we need to do once we’re inside. But the truth is we’ve not had that discussion. So, we all stand here watching each other wondering what the other is thinking.
Several minutes pass in silence, knowing one of us has to make the first move, I strip out of my jacket and throw it on the table then turn to face my brothers. “He has to die. For everything he’s put us through, for everyone he’s hurt. Da, Aoife, Alex, Rory. Bells. I get it, he’s blood. But he chose to disregard that. The moment he turned his back on us, the moment he chose to hurt us.
“I get that you may not want to do this, that…”
“We’re a unit.” My eyes flick to Connor. “We may all be taking our own paths, but they all run alongside yours. This is the point where our paths cross. You’re not in this alone, we are family, and our blood matters.” He steps forward placing a hand on my shoulder and looking me right in the eye. “That piece of shit made a choice. He may share our blood but he ain’t our family.” He slaps me on the shoulder then starts to remove his jacket and tee.
“He’s above to find out what real family is.” Finn bites out then follows Connor stripping out of his clothes. I turn to Ro. He gives me a slight nod and a small smirk then removes his jacket. But he doesn’t strip out of his clothes, he rolls up his sleeves then waits by the door for the rest of us.
I enter the room first, my brothers on my heels. Liam is tied to a chair in the centre of the room, he’s been stripped of his clothes and his body is a mass of blood and bruises. I look to my left to see Seamus leaning against the wall flanked by two of his men. I raise my eyebrow at him. He smirks pushing himself off the wall and taking a step toward me. “You just said I wasn’t allowed to kill him. You gave me no instruction on how much I could hurt him. He’s all yours. I’ll head back to your Ma’s to check on the women.”
He steps aside to leave but I grab his arm pulling him back to me. “Thank you. And she’s at her place. Not Ma’s.” He watches me for a few seconds then gives me a small nod. I watch his men follow him out the door closing it behind them.
“You’re looking a little rough there, cousin.” Finn steps up to him, bending to his level and gripping his chin tipping his face up to get a better look. “But I think we can do better. Let’s see how much you can really handle.” He then pushes his face away from him and walks over to the table. I watch his back for a minute I see his body tight, his shoulders raising and dropping with each breath he takes. Turning away from Finn I look to Connor; his eyes are fixed on Liam. His face is completely devoid of emotion, his breathing controlled as he lets his demon take over. Knowing that Finn and Connor are getting themselves into the places they need to be to get through this, I turn to the other side of Liam. Ronan leans against the wall. His eyes are fixed on a point on the wall opposite, I take a step toward him, but his eyes quickly flip to mine, and he shakes his head.
“Ro?”
“You three should take the lead on this.”
“Brother…” I take another step toward him. But he holds out his hand halting me.
“Someone needs to stay focussed. Someone needs to be able to pull you guys out of it. He deserves to pay for what he’s done, one of us needs to make sure we don’t kill him too soon…”
“That doesn’t need to be you brother. I can be the one to pull us back.”
“Kill. I can’t anchor myself. If I let my demon take over right now there will be no coming back from it.”
